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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel was at war. "Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack on Israel and its citizens," he said in his first on-the-record reaction released in a post five hours after the Hamas launched a surprise attack.
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"I've instructed first of all to clear the terrorists from communities they had infiltrated into, and that is in progress. I've ordered an extensive callup of reserves to respond in a war the enemy has never seen before. We are at war and we will emerge triumphant," he said.
Netanyahu spoke after a security briefing at the military HQ in Tel Aviv calling on Israelis to adhere to instructions from the Home Front Command.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group hailed the Hamas offensive and said it was a message to Arab nations that were considering normalizing relations with Israel.
Earlier Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said this was war. In a statement, he said Hamas made a grave error when it decided to attack Israel.
Israel's medical emergency services MDA called for people to donate blood and hundreds were reported to head the call, arriving at Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital.
Meanwhile, rocket fire continued throughout the morning with sirens blaring in the Jerusalem area, central Israel including Tel Aviv and other major metropolitan centers. There were two confirmed deaths but that number was expected to be higher.